In the spirit of the fabulous 1976 Woodrow & Bernstein dramatization All the President's Men, starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford as the famed Washington Post reporters who uncovered the Watergate scandal, Spotlight features the Boston Globe investigative team who first reported on sexual abuse and cover up by Catholic clergy in Boston. Which, as we now know, led to revelations of similar conduct in dozens of cities around the world.

Top three takeaways:

casting = superb. And surprising. Hunky leading man Mark Ruffalo plays a believable, gung ho nerdy reporter. Michael Keaton is excellent as the Spotlight team editor. And I haven't checked the chronology of things, but I seriously doubt he gets this role without his breakout 'return' in Birdman. Liev Schreiber goes against type as the anti-social newly hired editor. And Rachael McAdams is excellent as the no nonsense, only female investigative reporter on the team.

fun fact: co-writer / director Tom McCarthy had a large role in Season 4 (?) of HBO's The Wire playing a Baltimore Sun reporter with loose ethics.

Though the events depicted primarily took place in 2001-02, which doesn't seem that long ago, technology has leapt tremendously. Odd not to see a smartphone. Odd to still see microfiche. etc, etc

Suffice it to say, the film's excellent and worth seeing, though it could be equally enjoyed on a smaller screen too.